I was reading a bit about how some electricalequipment like LED/LCD TV and DVD players donít always like any power above 12V. Batteries can produce more than 12v when fully charged or whilst being charged (wind/solar). So I was wondering if there was something simple like a diode/capacitor or something that could be put in the cable before the TV to stop the surge which could be anywhere as high as 14.? Volts, without resorting to one of the bulky commercial units.

... So I was wondering if there was something simple like a diode/capacitor or something that could be put in the cable before the TV to stop the surge which could be anywhere as high as 14.? Volts, without resorting to one of the bulky commercial units.

No, there isn't.

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Gord May "If you didn't have the time or money to do it right in the first place, when will you get the time/$ to fix it?"

!2v "wet" batteries never were 12v, neither were the appliances that run on "12v". It is a resting v of 12.6 until There is a load, dropping v down to 12.3 or less as it discharges. In the charaging phase, it can run as high as 14.1 or 14.2. These voltages are within tolerance of "12v" appliances with no damage.

It is higher voltages that can damage some things. I "equalize" my batteries to 15v+ on occasion, and while doing so, ALL motors are fine, as well as incandescent lights, but I don't turn on my Alpenglow fluorescent lights, stereo, TV, VHF, or the like.

!4.1v will not hurt anything designed to run on a "so called" 12v system...

BTW, My Flat screen TV, Lap top computer, etc... run on higher v like 19v. I use a DC to DC converter for running these directly of of the boat's 12v system. They are sold as 12v car/RV power supplies, have a cigarette lighter plug on one wire, and the appropriate TVs small "in" plug on the other wire, with a small 2" X 3" converter box inbetween. (available at computer supply sources) These inexpensive devices are available in a ming boggling variety of "out voltages & out amps", as well as "out" plug sizes and styles. You just get the one that matches the specs on your appliance.

Compared to the other route of using an inverter, (producing 120v AC), to power the little wall socket black box, that came with the appliance... and plugging the computer into that, the DC to DC converter will consume about half the a/h, because it is that much more efficient!

Thanks Mark, the tv/dvd has an AC to 12v DC black box that says 110/230 AC to 12v 5Amp DC, I was looking at hard wiring the tv/dvd into the boats AC power and running it that way. Are you sure the higher battery voltage when fully charged wont hurt the Tv. I do use a DC to DC to run the laptop at 19V as this charges the laptopbattery at the same time the laptop will run on 12V but does not charge the battery. Its the Tv I have concerns about.

Thanks Mark, the tv/dvd has an AC to 12v DC black box that says 110/230 AC to 12v 5Amp DC, I was looking at hard wiring the tv/dvd into the boats AC power and running it that way. Are you sure the higher battery voltage when fully charged wont hurt the Tv. I do use a DC to DC to run the laptop at 19V as this charges the laptop battery at the same time the laptop will run on 12V but does not charge the battery. Its the Tv I have concerns about.

If you can avoid running the boat's inverter by hooking your 12v DC TV directly to the boat's 12v system, rather than use the little (110-120 v AC to 12v DC) black box that came with the TV, go for it! (Assuming the back of the TV says 12v DC in). It will save a lot of wasted energy.

I have done this for many years with no problems. The v going into these devices has to simply be within a range, not necessarily "spot on". As long as the line v is not higher than 14v, you should be fine. (Don't use it when doing a 15v equalize, that's all).

You can buy many different devices like stabilizers, converters, inverters etc. http://stor
One of them is : this link or you can build something yourself using one of many projects on line usin Greatz Bridge, Zener Diode - min.10 Amper. Or the best solution is to buy stabilized voltage regulator/charger 10-40 V at least 500 W (I sugest)or similar voltage range.